The Grass Measuring Thread

alps · 25-04-2018 10:25PM

Moved to plate meter for the last 2 seasons.....

Since then..

We've grown more grass, and the cows demand has increased by a corresponding amount...

cacs · 25-04-2018 10:26PM

mahoney_j wrote: »

Tried in vain to buy one but it seems the company marketing it aren’t up to much since ploughing last September I’ve 4 different calls made and 4 different demos organized which amounted to no shows or no call back on there behalf .seem like complete amateurs .if sales is this bad what would product back up be like ???.not cheap either at circa 1500 .on paper it sounds like a serious piece of kit tho .

Bought a digital plate metre off a company in UK. Saved about €200 on buying it here. Called them had it in three days. I find it great I measure the grass as quick as I can walk. If you want their details PM me

Jbyrne01 · 27-04-2018 09:36PM

As a wise man once said to me if you can not go out to a field and know how much grass is in it by just casting your eye over it. Are you really a. Farmer..

charolais0153 · 27-04-2018 10:00PM

Jbyrne01 wrote: »

As a wise man once said to me if you can not go out to a field and know how much grass is in it by just casting your eye over it. Are you really a. Farmer..

Easy know how much grass in a field but acrosa farm it gives an indication if you have to apply more nitrogen,cut more silage etc.

Jbyrne01 · 27-04-2018 10:33PM

charolais0153 wrote: »

Easy know how much grass in a field but acrosa farm it gives an indication if you have to apply more nitrogen,cut more silage etc.

Well Ud want no tape at d moment for measuring anyway an dats for sure and certain

yewtree · 27-04-2018 10:42PM

Jbyrne01 wrote: »

As a wise man once said to me if you can not go out to a field and know how much grass is in it by just casting your eye over it. Are you really a. Farmer..

Your 'wise man' is dead right, the worst farms I have been on are the idiots who grass measure or try to manage grass. The lads who set stock and do the same thing every year are really getting on around here. From my experience the less effort you put in to something the better the results.

Timmaay · 27-04-2018 10:58PM

Jbyrne01 wrote: »

Well Ud want no tape at d moment for measuring anyway an dats for sure and certain

I'd say the polar opposite on most farms around here, plenty covers of 2000+, but just were to wet to graze.

Never wrestle with pigs · 28-04-2018 12:35AM

What gr are you estimating at the moment? Gone from light covers to mad in a few days here. Ground that got about 15 t of dung in the back end and a few bags last week really jumping into life. Clover starting to reastablish by itself.

charolais0153 · 06-05-2018 01:17PM

Growth 67
Demand 61
10 days ahead.
Sr 3.9
150 cover/ lu
600 avg farm cover.

mahoney_j · 06-05-2018 02:45PM

charolais0153 wrote: »

Growth 67
Demand 61
10 days ahead.
Sr 3.9
150 cover/ lu
600 avg farm cover.

At 140 here ,paddocks knocked and debating wether I should go lower .grass growing over 100 last 3 days .better be brave than sorry

RobinBanks · 08-05-2018 09:45AM

Farm cover 944
Cover / LU 231
Growth 52
Demand 59
Days ahead 16
LU/Ha 4.08
Rotation length 21 days
Pre grazing yield 1375

2nd week measuring now. Waiting for teagasc to get back to me to help interpret grass wedge.

Cattle out yesterday into a huge cover of 1800. I prob should have took out for bales?

Panch18 · 08-05-2018 11:39AM

yewtree wrote: »

Your 'wise man' is dead right, the worst farms I have been on are the idiots who grass measure or try to manage grass. The lads who set stock and do the same thing every year are really getting on around here. From my experience the less effort you put in to something the better the results.

you know there is more than 1 way to skin a cat.

Certainly in a beef scenario it could be more profitable to cut back on fertiliser, and grow a little bit less grass for a while then spend money on fertiliser to grow grass which then costs money to cut as round bales which you might not need.

The thing about grass measuring is that its great to get you to grow more more more, but is it more profit is the real question - certainly not in every scenario

stretch film · 08-05-2018 11:52AM

Has everyone made the move to pasturebsase .

Kept with agrinet here cos I use the app more than desktop.
Phone reception doesn't always allow for going on the pbi website which its what they're suggesting as an alternative to app.

Discussion group are pushing to get everyone on one system.

Bass Reeves · 08-05-2018 12:25PM

I am thinking of buying a plate meter is this one any good

https://www.grasstecgroup.com/agri-services/product/manual-folding-plate-meter/

Wildsurfer · 08-05-2018 01:18PM

stretch film wrote: »

Has everyone made the move to pasturebsase .

Kept with agrinet here cos I use the app more than desktop.
Phone reception doesn't always allow for going on the pbi website which its what they're suggesting as an alternative to app.

Discussion group are pushing to get everyone on one system.

But I thought agrinet will cease as a separate package once they move everyone to the new system, seen as they are involved with Pasture Base?

einn32 · 08-05-2018 01:37PM

Wildsurfer wrote: »

But I thought agrinet will cease as a separate package once they move everyone to the new system, seen as they are involved with Pasture Base?

Yes it will be redundant. I'd switch now as pasture base is better system I find.

stretch film · 08-05-2018 02:25PM

Wildsurfer wrote: »

But I thought agrinet will cease as a separate package once they move everyone to the new system, seen as they are involved with Pasture Base?

Still going strong atm anyway.
No mobile version of note with oasturebase.
I can upload onto phone at home and work offline on farm.

mahoney_j · 08-05-2018 03:37PM

No need for Agrinet or pasturebase the most important thing is to walk farm regurally and react to what’s in front of you .i use neither and couldn’t be arsed ,I don’t actually put a figure on covers in paddocks either a lot of time .paddocks walked 2/3 times a week and decisions made based on that

charolais0153 · 08-05-2018 04:33PM

mahoney_j wrote: »

No need for Agrinet or pasturebase the most important thing is to walk farm regurally and react to what’s in front of you .i use neither and couldn’t be arsed ,I don’t actually put a figure on covers in paddocks either a lot of time .paddocks walked 2/3 times a week and decisions made based on that

How do u know if youre at 140 then? Estimation?

mahoney_j · 08-05-2018 04:53PM

charolais0153 wrote: »

How do u know if youre at 140 then? Estimation?

Actually did cover cut/weighed every paddock do it now and again to train eye more than anything .id of taken more or less paddocks out by just walking thru paddocks and not physically cutting/weighing and doing up farm cover

einn32 · 08-05-2018 07:11PM

I do my covers on to the phone as I go around. There is no way I could remember the grazing plan without the app. Too much going on in my head so a lot of information is transferred to apps.

stretch film · 08-05-2018 07:18PM

mahoney_j wrote: »

Actually did cover cut/weighed every paddock do it now and again to train eye more than anything .id of taken more or less paddocks out by just walking thru paddocks and not physically cutting/weighing and doing up farm cover

You went the long way around calculating the cover per cow if you didn't use either program

mahoney_j · 08-05-2018 09:45PM

stretch film wrote: »

You went the long way around calculating the cover per cow if you didn't use either program

Took all of 5 minutes

leg wax · 09-05-2018 06:07AM

will probably be scolded for this but, i see grass measuring as a tool for farmers that have people working for them,and not for the 1 man operators , put it up on paper in black and white so the fool knows what paddock is next and what paddock to tell the contractor to cut when he comes,as i am the owner and cant be arsed to be around. bigger and bigger operations need more measuring as it can really get out of control if the owner is not around.;):rolleyes:

Keepgrowing · 09-05-2018 08:01AM

leg wax wrote: »

will probably be scolded for this but, i see grass measuring as a tool for farmers that have people working for them,and not for the 1 man operators , put it up on paper in black and white so the fool knows what paddock is next and what paddock to tell the contractor to cut when he comes,as i am the owner and cant be arsed to be around. bigger and bigger operations need more measuring as it can really get out of control if the owner is not around.;):rolleyes:

Lol, perhaps in some cases. For us
1. Ensuring cows are fully fed
2. Getting the maximum from the Ha
3. Identifying poor performing paddocks
4. Ensuring meal not displacing grass
5. Ensuring highest solids/price we can
6. Grazing plan is simplified
7. Identifying surplus (in time)
8. Early indicator of deficit
9. Ensures 300 days grazing
10. Total control

That's the first 10 off the top of my head. There are many more reasons. Guys not doing it and just firing in nut for litres are forgetting that grass based farmers aren't producing milk but growing a crop that's then converted to milk. It's the greatest protein crop we can grow and we simply employ cows to convert it into the most complete food I know of.

I'm not suggesting for one minute that feeding high rates of meal is wrong, it's just another way of converting energy and protein with massive air miles into a somewhat similar complete food.

einn32 · 09-05-2018 08:10AM

leg wax wrote: »

will probably be scolded for this but, i see grass measuring as a tool for farmers that have people working for them,and not for the 1 man operators , put it up on paper in black and white so the fool knows what paddock is next and what paddock to tell the contractor to cut when he comes,as i am the owner and cant be arsed to be around. bigger and bigger operations need more measuring as it can really get out of control if the owner is not around.;):rolleyes:

So farm workers are fools? No wonder people don't want to work on farms here! I do it because I know it makes the farm more profit.

White Clover · 09-05-2018 09:04AM

leg wax wrote: »

will probably be scolded for this but, i see grass measuring as a tool for farmers that have people working for them,and not for the 1 man operators , put it up on paper in black and white so the fool knows what paddock is next and what paddock to tell the contractor to cut when he comes,as i am the owner and cant be arsed to be around. bigger and bigger operations need more measuring as it can really get out of control if the owner is not around.;):rolleyes:

God, aren't you of a superior race!

leg wax · 09-05-2018 09:39AM

call me old fashioned , :P

charolais0153 · 12-05-2018 06:15PM

Growth of 110
180/lu.
Will probably have to take out a few paddocks but ground is still a touch wet for going maling bales. Hopefully make a few end of the week

Wildsurfer · 12-05-2018 10:48PM

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Lol, perhaps in some cases. For us
1. Ensuring cows are fully fed
2. Getting the maximum from the Ha
3. Identifying poor performing paddocks
4. Ensuring meal not displacing grass
5. Ensuring highest solids/price we can
6. Grazing plan is simplified
7. Identifying surplus (in time)
8. Early indicator of deficit
9. Ensures 300 days grazing
10. Total control

That's the first 10 off the top of my head. There are many more reasons. Guys not doing it and just firing in nut for litres are forgetting that grass based farmers aren't producing milk but growing a crop that's then converted to milk. It's the greatest protein crop we can grow and we simply employ cows to convert it into the most complete food I know of.

I'm not suggesting for one minute that feeding high rates of meal is wrong, it's just another way of converting energy and protein with massive air miles into a somewhat similar complete food.

Just remember not everyone is on a dry farm like yours. I could have measured it every day ten times a day this year but I still couldn't get the cows out to grass. I actually stopped doing walks as it was getting so depressing trudging through waterlogged fields. Grass budgeting is high on our discussion group agenda but I need a different template to the one being promoted by Moorepark/Teagasc. I got cows out in February trying to achieve my grazing targets, did some poaching hoping it would be dry for start of second round. Those paddocks are still holding water now, and I'm poaching them for the third time.

The Grass Measuring Thread

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